PDF, 3.1 MB

The Cavalier Daily’s annual preview of Virginia basketball comes to the online edition!

The Cavalier Daily’s own Jack Bird, Nick Eilerson and Dan Stalcup break down the Virginia basketball team’s chances of success in the 2009-10 season in this edition of Sports Talk.

The scent of barbecue, the sounds of music and the ringing of whistles wafted from Lambeth Field on an uncharacteristically warm Saturday afternoon last weekend as the men’s lacrosse team hosted the Inaugural William L. Barrow Memorial Flag Football Tournament to raise money for the University’s HELP Line.

Fifth-year Education student Max Pomper came up with the idea for the tournament two months ago as a way to remember Will Barrow, a beloved teammate and friend who took his own life last November.

“Our whole point was to raise money, but also to celebrate Will’s life,” Pomper explained. With Will’s tragic death in mind, Pomper contacted HELP Line, a 24-hour crisis hotline, about raising money for the service as a way to ensure that more students might learn about the useful service.

The HELP Line is a 24-hour, confidential, student-run crisis hotline serving all members of the Central Virginia community. Although the program has been around for more than 20 years, it has always been underfunded.

A talented athlete and admired teammate, Barrow was chosen by his fellow players to serve as captain of the men’s lacrosse team in 2008. He also was a strong midfield player on Virginia’s 2006 national championship team. In addition to playing lacrosse, Barrow served as a volunteer lacrosse instructor for ACAC Fitness and Wellness Center, as well as a volunteer elementary tutor in conjunction with Athletes Committed to Education. Barrow was finishing a major in sociology as a fifth-year student at the University.

“Quite simply put, [Will was] an amazing and influential person,” said fourth-year College student Kyle Menendez, a long-stick midfielder on the team. “Anyone who was [lucky] enough to have crossed paths with Will might easily recount his infectious million-dollar smile and his happy-go-lucky attitude that made him such a pleasure to be around.”

Pomper decided to plan the tournament close to the one-year anniversary of Barrow’s death.

“We wanted to make sure it didn’t come with a sour taste,” he said. “We wanted to do something positive to get people to remember Will.”

Pomper, along with fellow event coordinators Menendez and fourth-year Education student Mike Thompson, another midfielder, initially anticipated a relatively modest turnout.

But the event surpassed their wildest expectations. “It blew up,” Menendez said. “I was … thinking a dozen teams and we ended up getting 28. Most of us knew Will’s popularity when he was here, but this blows us away.”

In addition to the University’s men’s and women’s lacrosse teams, as well as several local sorority and fraternity teams, participants traveled from many other higher education institutions including the University of North Carolina, Georgetown University, University of Maryland, University of Delaware, Vanderbilt University, Roanoke College, American University and Gettysburg College. Even the Charlottesville Old Men’s Lacrosse Association formed a team.

Local businesses such as Boylan Heights and Big Jim’s BBQ willingly gave their services to the cause.

Each team consisted of 10 teammates with a $150 entry fee for the entire team. The lacrosse team also organized a raffle, which included items such as a football signed by the Dallas Cowboys. In addition, T-shirts and wristbands were sold; all 150 T-shirts and 400 wristbands were gone before the event even came to an end, Menendez said.

The event raised an estimated total of $7,000, which will directly fund the HELP Line.

“The biggest thing for us is getting people to learn about HELP Line and get the number,” HELP Line Publicity Program Director Steven Le said. “Having an event where people are talking about HELP Line is a huge deal for us.”

Head Program Director Lauren Gloudeman added that using Barrow’s memory has helped to generate publicity for the program.

“To be associated with men’s lacrosse and such a great person as Will,” she said, “brings credibility to our program … and opens doors for us.”

The wristbands created for the event have the HELP Line number (434-295-TALK) printed on the inside.

Pomper and teammates understand the immeasurable importance of a program such as HELP Line to students at the University. “I just want people to know that this is available. There is always an outlet,” Pomper said. “It’s something I really wish Will had known.”

Although Gloudeman noted that “HELP Line volunteers are not trained professionals, and we can’t prevent suicide,” he explained that the organization can still be of great service. “What we can do is listen … and hopefully diminish [suicidal] thoughts.”

What was obvious Saturday in Lambeth Field was that the Inaugural William L. Barrow Memorial Flag Football Tournament proved to be a wild success, generating whopping attendance numbers and a large amount of funding for the HELP Line. What may not have been so obvious was the true sense of remembrance and reverence felt by tournament participants for a beloved student, brother, teammate, classmate and friend.

“Will gave us a good day,” Pomper said.

With the recent release of the Spring 2010 SOC (R.I.P. COD), it’s about that time to start looking for potential easy As and professors that don’t have negative numbers on RateMyProfessors.com. In an interesting twist of fate, The Cav Daily snagged a list of new, unpublished classes that are sure to turn a few heads.

CULI 2040: Bland Revelations from a Mediocre Line Cook

Ever wanted to learn how to cook? But not well, and with little effort? Here’s the class for you! Brand new to College students this upcoming semester comes the probably-regrettable opportunity to take a three-credit culinary arts course with Newcomb Hall’s own Rodney Jenkins. A 15-year veteran of the Barracks Road Kroger, Jenkins only recently decided to stop shelving food and start cooking it. Now, he’s ready to spread some of his barely-present enthusiasm onto his pupils.

“I’m guessing these kids are capable of making mass-produced food that not everyone will enjoy … Heck, they might even teach me some stuff,” Jenkins said while trying to distinguish between an apple and a red onion.

Students will not only have the opportunity to recreate such Newcomb classics as overdone meatloaf, soggy French fries and cake-that-looks-like-it-was-made-two-months-ago, but also to clean, mop, dust, buffer and exterminate the kitchens — and Rodney’s car. Prior to the start of the class, however, it is recommended that participants be up to date with their tetanus shots, as handling rusty knives can at times be dangerous.

PHYE 3200: Running with the Bulls

Sure to test even the most talented athlete’s endurance, this newest addition to a long line of Physical Education courses brings Pamplona in the summertime directly to Charlottesville in the spring. Dusty, barren flatlands on the outskirts of Grounds provide the perfect setting for man and provoked, frothing-at-the-mouth bulls to frolic together, unchained from the forces of society! The cardiovascular exercise is not for the weak of heart — no pun intended! Looking backwards into the dark, dead, fearsome eyes of a rapidly charging 1,800-pound creature hellbent on piercing your left butt cheek with a massive horn can certainly get your blood … well, running!

PSED 1500: Introduction to Astrology and Other Dusty, Useless Arts

One of the offerings from the newly-created Pseudoscience department is this gem of a class, in which students will tackle a wide range of trivial topics, from telepathy to stargazing — and even medieval alchemy! The introductory lecture is a mix of both history and hands-on, in spite of the utter, undeniable futility of everything that is covered. Students will review findings such as those from the fifth century, when Athens’ Bernard the Tumultuous attempted to predict the apocalypse through dissecting aardvark spines. They also will create their own decks of tarot cards and calligraphy scrolls, sure to be hits with gullible friends and brain-dead relatives. Additionally, by the end of the course, each individual will be proficient in the art of interpreting wide varieties of horoscopes and fortune cookies. Students interested in the course should also look into a second PSED class on the docket for next semester: Decoding Urbandictionary, in which students will boil down the exact science of scoring a definition on the legendary Web site.

SOC 4710: Logology

If the sociological breakdown of status symbols piques your interest, be sure to sign up for this riveting class before space runs out! Burning to know how to look more Kappa? Wondering about the percentage of approving stares one gets when sporting a pink Polo shirt versus its yellow Lacoste counterpart? Just itching to find out theories about what Sevens and Imps wear to avoid being outed to the peasant masses? Everything will be revealed in this upper-level course, open to all majors and social ranks. One-credit discussion class optional to discuss the latest CollegeACB gossip.

GNUR 5620 Nursing Yourself Back to Health

In this new intensive-yet-inventive course, students will, on the first day of class, blindly pick a random debilitating injury or illness to inflict upon themselves. From there, they are required to work their way back to perfect health by the end of the semester — just to snag that A! Facing a Russian roulette of tantalizing options — which include being put into a coma, injecting oneself with H1N1 and chopping off a foot — the excitement and white blood cell count is sure to rise! Please note that failure to attend class and/or death will both result in an Incomplete.

COMM 3908: You Know You’re Going to Get an A in this Class

Come on, admit it. You know you’re going to get an A in this class. You’ve worked your butt off so far in Commerce School and you’ve done great. Pat yourself on the back. Hell, you worked your butt off to get into the school in the first place, rising above the masses who would lick your foot to be where you are now. All those spineless, pathetic, liberal arts cretins who will be getting your coffee in a few years. Yeah, you know the type, as you sit in class, narrowing your eyes, staring out the window and daydreaming about a New York high rise, with the hot wife and two kids and dinner waiting at home. The Porsche, the private jet, the gold-plated golf cart, the koi pond, the porcelain verneers, the … Damn it, my life sucks.

David’s column runs biweekly Fridays. He can be reached at d.replogle@cavalierdaily.com.